


A Fusion's Merit

by Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends



Series: We Can Fuse?! [9]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (okay basically ALL THE KISSING), (sorta) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Anxious Thoughts, Banter, Cheek Kisses, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flirting, Fluff, Food mention, Forehead Kisses, Gentle Kissing, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, Panic Attacks, Rain, Rainbows, Remus mention, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Teasing, Thunderstorms, mild arguing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22039711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends/pseuds/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends
Summary: Despite being boyfriends for a decent amount of time, Roman realized that he had yet to take any of his loves on an actual date. So obviously, that needed to be fixed. He decided on taking them on a picnic date in his realm, which Patton was very enthusiastic about. Logan and Virgil seemed less enthusiastic- but that was more due to them having to go “outside” rather than having to spend time with their boyfriends.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: We Can Fuse?! [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1112916
Comments: 26
Kudos: 268





	A Fusion's Merit

**Author's Note:**

> I made a playlist for this au, check it out here: https://storytellerofuntoldlegends.tumblr.com/post/189958716031/we-can-fuse-fusion-au-playlist

Despite being boyfriends for a decent amount of time, Roman realized that he had yet to take any of his loves on an actual date. So obviously, that needed to be fixed. He decided on taking them on a picnic date in his realm, which Patton was very enthusiastic about. Logan and Virgil seemed less enthusiastic- but that was more due to them having to go “outside” rather than having to spend time with their boyfriends.

“It’s not even technically real, some imaginary sunshine won’t hurt you, my lustrous left-brain loves,” Roman teased with a loving tone to his voice. Virgil merely hissed in response, pulling his hood further over his eyes. Logan, meanwhile, observed the forest they were walking through with a critical eye.

“The forest you created is impressive- but I must say that I am mildly confused. This seems to be a typical deciduous forest, given the prevalence of oak trees, but the flora seems to be from a tropical rainforest,” Logan commented.

“Well, that’s because regular forest flowers are boring! I wanted to create something beautiful for you all,” Roman replied softly.

“Aw Roman, that’s so sweet!” Patton said in a slight squeal.

“You sappy dork,” Virgil teased, playfully swatting his arm.

“It is rather pretty, even if it is inaccurate,” Logan said with a soft look in his eyes.

“Nothing’s ever good enough for you, huh Specs?” Roman teased, trying to sound more lighthearted than he felt. He knew Logan didn’t mean any harm by his comment, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Roman. You, Patton, and Virgil are more than I could ever dream of- you don’t need to create the perfect forest to captivate me,” Logan said softly. Roman stopped dead in his tracks, face flaming instantly. He glanced over to see Patton and Virgil with similar flustered expressions. Meanwhile, Logan seemed rather smug.

“Oh- you! This is it, I am going to _die_ and on my tombstone it will read ‘Here Lies Roman: He Was Too Gay To Function,’” he proclaimed, dramatically resting the back of his hand against his forehead.

“No! Don’t die, how am I supposed to give you kisses?!” Patton exclaimed with a pout. Roman made a slightly strangled sound, hunching over slightly and burying his face in his hands.

“You reach into my grave to dig me out- only to end up burying me further!” Roman gasped, lurching up to his full height and clasping his hands over his chest.

“All I said was that I wanted to give you kisses,” Patton grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly. Roman turned to Patton with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Is that offer still on the table?” Roman asked, tone low and flirtatious. Patton giggled in response, practically bouncing over to Roman and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

“C’mon you two, are we going to have a picnic or not?” Virgil asked before Roman could pull Patton into another kiss. Both Roman and Patton pouted slightly, but they stepped away from each other.

“Fine, fine- now on, to adventure!” Roman declared, striding forward confidently. The other three followed after him, and they walked to their picnic destination in relative silence. Patton would point out some plant or creature to them every now and then, and Logan would rattle off some fact or inaccuracy about it while Roman and Virgil would look on fondly.

After a few moments of walking, Roman realized that things were perhaps too quiet. The silence had been comfortable for most of the walk, but now? Something seemed off. Roman couldn’t quite place why at first- until he suddenly realized the reason and froze in his steps. It had been a while since Patton had cheerfully pointed out something to the other three. Roman whirled around, and his fears were confirmed. Only Logan and Virgil were behind him, and Patton was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Patton?!” Roman blurted, upon seeing Logan and Virgil’s confused expressions. Those expressions quickly shifted to mild panic (Logan) and extreme panic (Virgil).

“What do you mean, he was right behind me- oh god he’s wandered off… what if there’s something _dangerous_ in this forest- Roman I swear if something happens to him I’ll-”

“Virgil. Patton can’t have gotten far, we’ll find him. And I’m sure this forest isn’t dangerous, right Roman?” Logan asked, cutting off Virgil’s worried rambling and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Er… yes! I’m sure the forest is safe!” Roman replied nervously. Both Logan and Virgil leveled him with an even glare.

“You’re sure?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Listen, the Imagination is technically Remus’s too, and sometimes his creations end up on my side, even though I’ve _told_ him like, one thousand times to keep his stuff in his area-”

“Guys, I found a cave!” an excited voice- Patton, surely- called to them.

“See- or hear, I suppose- Patton’s just fine!” Roman said. However, just as soon as the words left his mouth, a screech sounding like it came from a bird of some sort was heard.

“Uh, guys?! I think this cave is occupied!” Patton’s now mildly terrified voice came. Logan, Virgil, and Roman hardly exchanged nervous glances before they rushed off in the direction of Patton’s voice. They found him pretty easily- he wasn’t as far off as they had thought. There was indeed a cave, and Patton stood a few feet away from it, hands up in a placating gesture. And, Roman realized with growing dread, the creature standing just outside the mouth of the cave was a sphoenix. A half sphinx, half phoenix. It (she?) had the body of a lion that had the upper half of a woman where the lion’s head would have been. Wings sprouted from her back, like a typical sphinx’s would, but the feathers were in shades of reds and golds… and were also on fire.

“One of Remus’s creations?” Logan asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

“Uhm… not exactly…”

“Roman, I will never understand your penchant for mixing mythical creatures together- a sphinx is _already_ several creatures combined- why did you add a phoenix to it, of all things?!” Logan said, exasperation in his tone.

“Because sphoenix just kinda rolls off the tongue, don’t you think?”

“No?! If anything, that is more complicated to pronounce than sphinx or phoenix- not to mention its spelling is likely ridiculous and horrendous to read,” Logan huffed. Roman opened his mouth to protest again- but he was interrupted by another screech from the sphoenix. She was glaring at the four of them- her expression half curious and half irritated.

“Hey, it’s okay! Sorry I woke you from your nap- you can just go back in your cave and sleep, and we’ll be on our way!” Patton said with a smile, beginning to step forward. Virgil quickly yanked him back- and good thing, too, as the sphoenix swiped at the open air where Patton had been previously standing.

“Whoa there! No need to get your feathers ruffled! Let’s just try and talk this out!” Roman said, locking gazes with the sphoenix. She narrowed her eyes, and crouched down as if she was trying to get down to Roman’s level- but Virgil saw the swaying of her hind end. His eyes widened, and he darted over to push Roman out of the way before the sphoenix pounced. There was a bright flash of light, and Draven ended up landing on the ground with a thump.

“Y’know- just _once_ I’d like to land on my feet when Roman and Virgil fuse,” Draven muttered. The sphoenix blinked in confusion, lifting up her paws to see that she hadn’t managed to catch a prince- then looked to Draven with her head cocked to one side.

Before Draven had a chance to say anything- to the sphoenix or his boyfriends- the Imagination rippled and the ground shook. He scrambled to his feet in an instant, summoning his shadowy sword. The trees around them stretched up and twisted into gnarled branches, the bushes and shrubbery became thorny, the skies darkened and thunder rumbled, and the sphoenix began shifting too. Her wings turned jet black, with the flames on them turning blue. Her claws seemed to get bigger and sharper, and her teeth (which had been more human-like before) grew sharp as well. Her fur- previously golden and looking luxurious to the touch- became darker and slightly matted.

Draven took a step backwards with a white-knuckled grip on his sword, distantly aware that his breath was coming out in uneven and panicked gasps. The sphoenix snarled and leapt at him with her claws, and he barely deflected the blow with his sword. He stumbled backwards, trying to hold himself together. This wasn’t what he wanted for today- both of them had wanted today to be _perfect_. And that was the only common thread Draven was clinging to (aside from sheer panic) to keep himself from unraveling. The Imagination clearly didn’t like his presence, but some spiteful part of himself- whether it was from Roman or Virgil, he wasn’t sure- wanted to stay fused, to prove to the Imagination that he was good enough. And… and just maybe to prove to his loves- his starlight and sunshine- that he was good enough. Sure, he had seemed smug and bold when he first met them- but his insecurities were coming in full force in the face of the dark sphoenix.

“Draven!” a terrified scream came from somewhere off to the side. Draven’s gaze snapped over to see Patton- his sunshine- with eyes wide with fear. Logan stood beside him, face pale and expression fearful- but not as much as Patton’s was. Draven’s eyes flew wide. He had _scared_ them. Sure, it was a feeling Virgil was more or less used to, but Roman… Roman was devastated. Draven’s sword threatened to fall from his grip, and he wanted nothing more than to fall to his knees and curl in on himself.

“I- I’m s-sorry, I didn’t mean to-to sc-care you- I’ll s-save you, I can p-prove to you that- that I-” Draven rambled, tears beginning to stream down his face, probably ruining his makeup. The skies responded to Draven’s distress, rain pouring down from the ominous clouds. The dark sphoenix hissed, darting back into her cave. Draven hardly noticed, his sword falling from his grip. His hands reached up to grip at his hair, nearly dislodging the circlet in the process, and he sank down to his knees. He could feel himself beginning to come apart at the seams- but he couldn’t, _he couldn’t_ , he still hadn’t proved himself, he didn’t even technically defeat the dark sphoenix-

A sudden flash off to the side made Draven whimper and grip at his hair tighter, because of _course_ his rainstorm had to have lightning too. But then something was shielding him from the rain, and Draven realized that what he saw out of the corner of his eye wasn’t lightning- it was Logan and Patton fusing. Galen stood above him, holding a dark blue umbrella patterned with pale blue pawprints over the two of them. Draven let his hands fall into his lap and startled slightly at the sight of Galen frowning at him in concern.

“No- nonono, this- this wasn’t how it was supposed to be!” Draven said, nearly whining as he curled in on himself more.

“How what is supposed to be, dear?” Galen asked, kneeling down beside him while still managing to keep them both under the umbrella.

“I didn’t want to meet you like this! With- with me all but falling apart!” Draven snapped. Galen didn’t flinch, but he did frown at Draven’s tone.

“Draven, sweetheart- no one’s _forcing_ you to stay fused,” Galen said softly. Draven made a strangled noise that was somewhere between frustrated and agonized.

“You don’t understand. I have to prove to you and the stupid Imagination that I’m good enough- I didn’t even heroically defeat the dark sphoenix, all I did was make some dumb rain!” Draven fumed, his voice close to a growl.

“Oh, but I like rain! It makes rainbows, after all, and- wait a minute. What did you say?” Galen asked, looking rather alarmed. Draven’s face went pale. He hadn’t meant to say the “needing to prove himself” part out loud.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it, starshine,” he grumbled. Galen flushed a bit at the pet name, but his concerned expression didn’t waver.

“Draven, dear- please talk to me. I just want to understand what exactly it is you’re feeling right now,” he said, gently prodding with those (dumb, beautiful, irritating, lovely) curious and concerned eyes. Draven sighed in defeat, and the rain let up ever so slightly.

“Roman wanted today to be perfect, Virgil was desperately hoping that things could be perfect in spite of his nature- what good am _I_ if I’m not perfect?” Draven confessed, voice hushed as tears began trickling down his face once more. The thunder was gone from his voice (and the air), and instead, a vulnerable downpour was all that was left. Galen’s expression crumbles, and he began crying too. Draven internally kicked himself. All he had done was make Galen upset- this was going so much worse than he could have ever imagined.

“Oh- oh sweetheart… it’s not fair of you to expect perfection from yourself! And- and I’m sorry if I- Logan and Patton- ever made you feel like you needed to be perfect,” Galen said, voice cracking every now and then. Despite the soothing words (or perhaps because of them), Draven began crying harder.

“Why- but I’m-”

“Hush, dear. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone or anything- we already love you,” Galen said, eyes shining. Draven felt like the breath had been punched from his lungs at Galen’s simple utterance. He loved him, _he loved him_ , and he loved him in spite of everything (or maybe- a small part of Draven hoped, probably Roman- _because_ of everything). With that thought having popped inside his head, Draven surged forward and took Galen’s face into his hands, then kissed him fiercely. He was likely ruining his black lipstick (and getting it all over Galen), but he could care less because Galen was kissing him back, sweet and lovingly.

When they had pulled away from each other, Draven realized that at some point (he wasn’t quite sure when), Galen had dropped the umbrella at their side, which resulted in them both getting a little drenched. Galen pulled his hands back from where they had been tangled in Draven’s hair (ah, so that’s why he had let go of the umbrella) and smiled at him sheepishly. The rain had turned to a light drizzle, and Draven noticed that a rainbow had formed in the sky.

“Huh. Well, I guess rain isn’t all that bad,” he said with a smirk quirking up on his lips.

“Rain is quite lovely… just not as lovely as you, dear,” Galen said, giving Draven a quick peck on the cheek. Draven squeaked, burying his flushed face into Galen’s chest.

“Galen! Starshine, that was _not_ fair,” Draven groaned. Galen chuckled lightly, one hand running through Draven’s hair while the other picked up the umbrella to shield them from the drizzling rain.

“What’s with the ‘starshine’ nickname? Not that I’m complaining,” Galen asked, and Draven was too busy relaxing into his touch to fully comprehend what he said for a few moments.

“Hmm? Oh! Well, Logan’s my starlight, and Patton’s my sunshine- so that makes you my starshine,” Draven explained simply. Galen’s hand suddenly stilled in his hair, and Draven glances up curiously. The other fusion is flushed bright red, mouth opening and closing uselessly. Draven smirked.

“Oh- why, you! So you say that _I’m_ not fair because I said you were lovely, but then you called me your starshine?!” Galen exclaimed, almost incredulously.

“Yup. Got a problem with that, starshine?” Draven said, grinning wickedly.

“You- You’re insufferable, and clever, and- and infuriatingly sweet, and- and goodness I can’t get enough of you,” Galen rambled, pulling Draven into another kiss.

“Funny, I was going to say the same about you,” Draven murmured when he pulled away.

“Flatterer. Now, while rain is lovely… I’m afraid we’ll both get sick if we stay out here much longer. I’m not entirely certain if we even can get sick, but I’d rather not risk it. How does curling up on the couch with some tea sound?” Galen offered.

“Make it hot chocolate, and it’s a deal.”

“Anything for you, dear.”

* * *

A short while later, Galen and Draven were curled up on the couch underneath a large, fluffy blanket. Draven had finished his hot chocolate rather quickly, while Galen was still working on his tea. He was absentmindedly running his fingers through Draven’s hair, having assumed that the other fusion had fallen asleep against his chest. That is, until his head raised up, eyes looking sleepily but no less adoringly up at Galen.

“Is something the matter, dear?” he asked with a frown, setting down his tea on the end table. Draven seemed to have pulled himself together after the incident in the imagination, but the fact that he was still fused did worry him slightly.

“Stop worrying, that’s my job- er, well, it’s Virgil’s job, but Virgil’s a part of me. The point is, I’m fine. Thanks to you,” Draven murmured, leaning up to kiss Galen on the cheek before snuggling back down on his chest. Galen’s cheeks tinged pink- although if it was because he was embarrassed or flustered, he wasn’t sure.

“My apologies, Draven. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright- you did seem to be on the verge of unfusing back in the Imagination,” Galen replied softly.

“I was. But you kept me from falling apart- now don’t get that remorseful look, I know the reason I was fused earlier wasn’t exactly healthy- but now I’m fused because I want to spend time with you. And sure, Roman and Virgil could do that by themselves… but isn’t it more fun to do it together?” Draven said, gazing up at Galen a little shyly. Galen gave him a soft smile, then pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Of course it is, dear. I was just double-checking. Now, was there something you wanted to say earlier? I’m afraid I let my fretting run away with me,” Galen asked. Draven flushed slightly and hid his face in Galen’s chest for a moment or two.

“Nevermind, starshine. It was kinda dumb,” Draven said, looking back up at Galen.

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Galen said reproachfully. 

“Okay, fine, fine… what does your name mean?” Draven asked timidly. Galen smiled- a tad on the smug side, which Draven raised an eyebrow at.

“Healer,” he answered, voice sounding a little self-satisfied. Draven rolled his eyes fondly, leaning up to kiss him again, this time on the lips. Galen hummed contentedly, bringing his free arm up to hold Draven secure against him as they kissed, his tea long forgotten.


End file.
